70 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
well-known “ chirp ” of the cricket is 
produced ; this noise is emitted by the 
males only and is generally regarded as a 
rallying call to the female insects. The 
abdomen of the female cricket is provided 
with a long augur or ovipositor with which 
she deposits her eggs, in cracks and crevices 
in the soil. These eggs are laid during the 
middle of the summer, and may be anything 
in number from 200 to 300. The larvae 
pass the winter in their larval or grub 
state, and do not become perfected insects 
until the following summer. There are 
several species of crickets — the “acheta 
campestris” or field cricket, and the 
“acheta domestica” or house cricket, this 
species being the best known. 
The field cricket is larger than the 
better-known house species, and is darker 
in colour. It burrows some six or eight 
inches underground and remains there 
during the day, while at night it wanders 
abroad in search of food, the male insect 
often being visible at the entrance to the 
hole where it will sit for hours chirping — 
the least disturbance causing the timid 
little musician to cease his curious notes. 
